Exposure reports regarding carcinogenic substances have increased since 2020 — more than 55,000 people have already been exposed

The number of employees reported as exposed doubled in 2020 compared with information for the previous year. A total of 55,000 people were registered as exposed in 2022 and, of them, 89% were men. Examined by area, the number of exposed employees has increased all the occupational safety and health districts in 2020–2022.

Southern Finland had the highest number of exposed people in 2022, with a total of 20,100. In proportion to the number of employed people, exposure was most common in Northern Finland, where 4% of employed people are exposed to some ASA exposure agent.

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Industry, construction and mining are the most relevant sectors

With 22,300 employees registered in 2022, the number of exposed people was the highest in the industrial main sector. Half of them were exposed to several carcinogenic factors. The construction industry had the second most registrations, with a total of 13,400 exposed in 2022. Registrations in the rescue sector, which falls under public administration, have increased significantly since 2020, when exposure to substanecs generated in the combustion process was added to the work methods subject to registration.

Examining the number of exposed persons in proportion with the total number of employees in the industry, the highest number of exposure reports in 2010—2022 came from the mining and quarrying industry. The mining industry is focused in Northern Finland, where approximately 40% of mine workers have been registered as being exposed to one or more carcinogenic factors since 2020.

Nearly 40% of registered employees were exposed to quartz

The most common exposure agents during the 2020–2022 review period were crystalline silicon dioxide (quartz dust), stainless steel welding, deciduous wood dust, nickel and its inorganic compounds, substances generated in a combustion process, and diesel engine exhaust fumes. Approximately 40% of employees registered in 2022 were exposed to quartz. Quartz dust and diesel engine exhaust fumes are exposure agents newly subject to registration after 2020. Oak and beech dust was expanded in 2020 to concern all deciduous wood dust. Before, people exposed in stainless steel welding were registered as exposed to hexavalent chromium and nickel. These and other changes to the list of agents subject to registration must be taken into account when comparing the newest data to ASA data published prior to 2020. See the changed definitions and instruction for ASA registration: ASA-rekisteri, Työterveyslaitos.